The Vintage Barbie Museum: The Modern Era

If you love Barbies (and who doesn’t), you’re in for a big treat! The Vintage Barbie Museum is hosting a fabulous exhibit featuring vintage, celebrity, porcelain, and special Silkstone Barbies. My family and I were fortunate to get a sneak peek at the soft opening of the Vintage Barbie Museum: The Modern Era, which is located at 216 N. Main St. in Tulsa. It’s a cute little space tucked in on the same street as Ida Red and Chimera. The museum will be open during the First Friday Art Crawl this coming Friday evening from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. It will also be open during Tulsa Tough on Saturday from 10 to 5. Entrance is free, but donations are always welcome. The normal hours through the end of July will be Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 to 5.

One of the major contributors to the current Barbie exhibit is Nancy Henderson Long, who very graciously answered my questions about her extensive and impressive Barbie collection. Nancy is well known in our neighborhood as “The Barbie Lady” and has become one of my five-year-old granddaughter’s favorite neighbors. Nancy graciously answered my questions about her extensive and impressive Barbie collection.

When did you first begin collecting Barbies?

Nancy: I got my one and only childhood Barbie, a #4 brunette ponytail, for Christmas in 1960 when I was 8. I had a lot of mommy-made clothes and a few of the Mattel fashions, but the outfit I really wanted was the Solo in the Spotlight outfit, which I never got. Then, in 1995, I was walking down the toy aisle in a store when I saw a reproduction set of a brunette #4 ponytail Barbie wearing a Solo in the Spotlight fashion. I was 43 years old, and I grabbed that doll like I was 8 years old again, and it was Christmas Day. I started reading every copy of Miller’s Barbie Collector and Barbie Bazaar magazines and buying Barbies at Goodwill and other thrift stores. I cleaned them up and made a few clothes for them, and they just simply made me happy.

Then I joined the Barbie Doll Club of Eastern Oklahoma here in Tulsa when I read in the newspaper that they would be the host club to the National Barbie Convention in 2000. Being around fellow collectors and sharing our love of Barbies sealed my fate, and I never stopped collecting. Over the years, I diversified my collection to include other fashion dolls, but Barbie is still my first love. I’ve been a member of four different doll clubs, have attended numerous fashion doll collections, and have become friends with collectors from all over the world.

Nancy’s first and only Barbie from her childhood.

Is there another collector who has Barbies in this exhibit?

Nancy: Yes, JD Houchens, who collects the true vintage from the ’60s and ’70s, with a few from the ’80s and ’90s. His collection was displayed in the museum in 2025, and it had truly amazing vintage dolls, including a coveted #1 Barbie. I do have quite a few true vintage, but my collection is mostly from the ’90s to current dolls. That’s why the exhibit this time is called The Modern Era.

Your Halloween Barbie displays have become legendary in our neighborhood. Do you have other holiday Barbie displays?

Nancy: I used to do very small displays on the bar in the sunroom for Valentine’s Day, Easter, brides in June, and Christmas, but don’t anymore.

Do you also like the newer Barbies, or do you mostly like the vintage Barbies?

Nancy: For the last few years, there haven’t been very many of the newer dolls that I’ve liked. Shopbots have made it almost impossible to buy any of the more interesting dolls from Mattel because they sell out in minutes and appear on Ebay for double the original price or more. Mattel has also placed its focus on more celebrity dolls and very few dolls with the emphasis on elegant or tailored fashions.

What appeals to you about collecting Barbies?

Nancy: So many things. Barbie is so beautiful, and she’s fun to re-dress. She sparks my imagination and my creativity. She has brought so many dear friends into my life that I never would have had, being the introvert that I am. She just makes me happy, and honestly, I can revert to the peacefulness of being a child again just by “playing” with my dolls.

Do you have a favorite Barbie in your collection?

Nancy: I do have a favorite, my Barbie from my childhood. Someone at the museum asked me which was my favorite of the recent dolls, and it has to be Styled by Design #3 by Bill Greening, 2025.

Nancy’s favorite Barbie of recent years

Is there anything else you’d like ot add about being a Barbie collector?

Nancy: I love all my dolls, but the thing I value the most is the people I’ve met and the friendships I’ve made through Barbie. I’m sure my collecting would have stopped years ago if I hadn’t found that first Barbie club in 1999. And I never would have met you if she hadn’t brought you to my doorstep. That’s the true magic of Barbie.

I also interviewed my five-year-old granddaughter Sylvia, who is a beginning Barbie collector, partially inspired by her friendship with Nancy.

How many Barbies do you have?

Sylvia: I have 16, including some mermaid Barbies (one was a gift from Miss Nancy), two Holiday Barbies, and a few older Barbies from my grandmom’s collection.

What was your favorite Barbie at the Vintage Barbie Museum’s exhibit?

Sylvia: My favorite was the porcelain Ballerina Barbie.

What else did you like about the museum?

Sylvia: I loved the all-pink bathroom! It had pink towels, pink soap, and even pink toilet paper!

Nancy Long and Sylvia

In addition to learning more about Barbies, visiting the Vintage Barbie Museum: The Modern Era, I also learned more about history and fashion. I encourage you to attend this fun, delightful, and beautiful exhibit! Downtown Tulsa is always a good place to shop and eat, and now you can also see Barbies while you’re there!